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The Haunting of Amphipolis
Synopsis Archangel Michael and another angel from the episode Fallen Angel watch Xena, Gabrielle, and Eve ride. Michael says Xena is finally going to Amphipolis. He says Xena is the only mortal prepared to face "this". Xena hums. Xena and Gabrielle tell Eve about Cyrene, and how much she'll love seeing her granddaughter. But they enter a very dark, dank, and spooky Amphipolis. The town appears totally deserted. They go into the tavern, full of cobwebs and bones and mice and scary stuff. Xena goes upstairs to check things out. Gabrielle goes to check the back. Eve hangs out. Xena walks down a cob-webbed hallway, cautiously. She sees a woman being dragged away. "Mom?" she says. Eve lights candles against the darkness. An evil voice: "LIVIA." Eve sees a man pulling a woman; the woman passes through Eve. Xena and Gabrielle come back. Eve tells Xena her mother is dead; she felt Cyrene's spirit pass through her. She tells Xena that Cyrene is helpless and in pain. She trapped, and other souls are trapped. She says Amphipolis has become a gateway of spiritual crossroads. "The realms of heaven and hell are taking sides," Eve whispers. Xena vows a vengeance against whoever trapped her mother's soul. She says she has to go to the mausoleum. She leaves Gabrielle and Eve in the Tavern, because she says she has to go do this alone. In the mausoleum, Xena sees odd paintings and offerings on crypts. Xena finds her family's tomb (?), and finds burned bones upon the crypt. Xena sees all these bones, and says that everything has been taken from her mother, that is why she cannot rest. Xena cries. "I'll make it right," she says. It thunders and lightning flashes. Gabrielle and Eve talk. Eve says Cyrene's spirit was frightened. Gabrielle takes a bite of fruit. Eve looks down and sees worms crawling in the fruit. Eve points this out to Gabrielle. Gabrielle runs and spits out what she's eating. Eve throws the fruit down, and the worms start growing and crawling and looking pretty icky. Eve calls on Eli and all the presence of heaven to cast out the bad stuff. Gabrielle washes her face and hands, and worms start crawling out of her skin on her hands. Her hands turn skeletal. Eve keeps praying. Gabrielle's hands return to normal and the worms disappear. Eve looks tired and awed at what she did. Xena, at the tomb, lights candles and tells Cyrene she'll put her at peace. An old man is watching. Xena grabs him. He says he is just hiding out from the storm. He realizes who Xena is. He tells Xena that Mephestopheles sent evil spirits to the Tavern years ago. Cyrene finally went mad. The crops failed. The people said Cyrene was a withc for the Big M. and so they burned her at the stake. The old man says the spirits were in the house are there still. Gabrielle sees an odd symbol on the floor. Eve sees the symbol, too. Gabrielle hears a noise from the floor, and puts her ear to the ground. She is grabbed by lots of hands and pulled through the ground into water. She had lots of demon things trying to drown her. Xena yells for Eve and Gabrielle. Gabrielle continues to be fight the drowning demons. Xena looks for Gabrielle. Gabrielle yells for Xena but Xena can't hear her. "This one is not the Messenger" one of the demons says. Eve suggests Gabrielle went upstairs, but Xena says no, she's there. Xena sees the symbol. Xena hears Gabrielle's cries and punches her hand down through the ground. Gabrielle grabs Xena's hand and Xena pulls her up. Gabrielle says she burns all over; the water is burning her. Xena and Eve put Gabrielle in a shower. Xena tells them about Cyrene's death. Eve says it is no accident she's in the house. Gabrielle says the demons told her they seek the blood of the Messenger. Xena says if the Big M. has picked a fight with Eve, he's picked a fight with her. Xena sees Lyceus, her brother, dead. Cyrene cries over him. Xena sees herself, watching her mother mourn. Cyrene and Xena argue over Lyceus' death. Cyrene slaps Xena and says her brother's death was all her fault, and she took Lyceus from her. "Mother, I'm just so sorry about everything," Xena says as the vision vanishes. Eve sits, and blood drips up from the floor. Gabrielle continues to shower. The water turns to blood. Blood starts oozing out of Gabrielle's crucifixion wounds. Eve prays more. Gabrielle has a seizure or something. More blood everywhere. Eve screams. Gabrielle lies unconscious. She wakes up. Gabrielle is a demon. Eve prays. Gabrielle licks the blood off her hand. Xena sees Gabrielle crawling on the ceiling. Gabrielle attacks Xena. Xena grabs a cloth to bind Gabrielle's hands. Eve puts her hands in the blood as she prays and the blood goes away. Xena holds Demon Gabrielle down. Big M. tells her, speaking through Gabrielle, that Gabrielle is with him. "Why are you doing this to my family?" Xena says. Eve comes to Gabrielle. She touches her and prays. Through Demon Gabrielle, the Big M. tells Xena that when Eve's blood is spilled in his name, he'll be made flesh. "Your mother cried out for you, even at the end," Demon Gabrielle says. Xena sees a vision of Cyrene's burning. The fire is light, and Cyrene cries for Xena. Demon Gabrielle tells Xena to spill her daughter's blood and bring the Big M. into the world. Even continues to pray over Gabrielle. Demon Gabrielle says more prophetic-type stuff. Eve keeps praying. The Big M. leaves Gabrielle. Xena and Gabrielle hug. Xena tells Gabrielle she wants her out of the house. Eve says the Big M. can't get Gabrielle again; she's been cleansed now. Eve prays some more. Xena and Gabrielle are alone and Xena tries to persuade Gabrielle to go somewhere safe; they touch hands and then they are joined together at the hand. They get a joint rubber arm. They try to pull themselves apart but can't. Then they are joined at the leg. Furniture and stuff comes after them, and they work together to jump over it. They try to leave the room, but chains grab Gabrielle by the neck and the foot. Xena chops the chain with her sword and they go to Eve. Eve prays over Xena and Gabrielle and they aren't bound to each other anymore. But Eve collapses from the effort. "Look at her," Gabrielle says. Eve can't fight this fight. The Big M. tells Xena that Eve is dying as Eve tries to pray over a fissure in the ground. He tells Xena that he just needs a few drops of the Messenger's blood. Xena tells Gabrielle that she is going to go fight the Big M. Gabrielle says that requires going to the spiritual realm if he isn't brought to earth. Xena says she is going to put the pinch on herself and go to the spiritual realm. She shows Gabrielle how to undo the pinch. Gabrielle doesn't want Xena to do this. She says if she can't undo the pinch, Xena will be trapped down there. Xena tells Gabrielle she believes in her. Xena does the pinch on herself and collapses. Xena is in the spiritual realm (which looks an awful lot like Tartarus). She sees Cyrene. Cyrene carries a bloody axe. She says she killed her husband. Xena tells Cyrene she'll make it right. The Big M. appears. They fight. Eve tells Gabrielle she'll go get some water to help revive Xena. Gabrielle tells Eve that she (Gabrielle) doesn't know what she's doing. The Big M. tells Xena that she can't hurt him in the spiritual realm. Gabrielle says, "I'm right here, Xena." Xena fights the Big M. The Big M. tells Xena that whoever kills him must reign over hell in his stead. Xena's nose begins to bleed in the spiritual realm. The Big M. says maybe Eve will spill her own blood, if the right pressure is applied. Eve, at the water, sees a headless man. She beheaded him back when she was Livia. Lots of her victims show up, all trapped because they didn't have time to be absolved of their sins. The unabsolved souls torment Eve. Gabrielle does the pinch thing, trying to wake Xena. Eve says she is not Livia. A mirror reflects Livia, and comes out of the mirror. Eve and Livia confront one another. Livia tells Eve to spill her blood and the souls will be released from torment. Eve runs into Livia's body. Eve is tormented. Gabrielle does the pinch thing again, and Xena wakes up. Gabrielle pulls Xena to her. Xena asks where Eve is. They find Eve huddled up. Eve says she has to stop the Big M. Xena says they will, by giving him exactly what he wants. Gabrielle tells Xena she can't do this. Xena says she is not going to let her family be tormented any more. Xena says her family makes her own destiny. Eve says she'll fulfill her destiny by bringing the Big M. into the only hands capable of killing him. Gabrielle holds Eve up as Eve prays and then, in the Big M.'s name, she cuts her hand open. Xena tells Gabrielle and Eve to leave, it's her fight now. The ground opens up. The Big M. rises. Xena and the Big M. fight. Gabrielle and Eve watch. Xena tells the Big M. that he's lying about that throne thing. They fight some more. The Big M. tells Xena she's afraid he's telling the truth. Xena hesitates, then stabs the Big M. "So be it," she says. The Big M. goes "poof." Xena looks a little funny in a possessed kind of way. She turns around, and sees Cyrene with Eve. She tells Xena she never gave up hope. Cyrene tells Xena she'll never really be gone; she'll always be in Xena's heart. Cyrene disappears. Daybreak. Gabrielle says, "Xena, you killed the king of hell. What happens now?" Xena says she has a feeling it's not over yet." The three stand and look at a steaming fissure, the spot where the Big M. came out. Memorable quotes Cast * Lucy Lawless as Xena * Reneé O'Connor as Gabrielle Background information and notes *Originally this episode was set to be the season 6 opener, but was changed to Coming Home, because of the amount of editing in Motherhood, which ended up with material left on the cutting room floor, Coming Home therefore was reworked for the season premiere, leaving this episode as the second episode of season 6. * This is the last appearance of Darien Takle (Cyrene) on the series. * The slime covering Renee from the Hell Pit was made out of KY Jelly, pureed asparagus, and vegemite. Lucy and Adrienne really were trying to help scrub her off in the shower, since the mixture smelled so bad! * This is the first time that Xena shows Gabrielle how to do the pinch. * In the flashback to Lyceus's death, Xena is wearing the armor she wore in her original episodes on Hercules. Continuity and mistakes * Xena's father's name was Atrius, as we know from the episodes "Ties That Bind" and "The Furies". So why was Cyrene calling out "My Orestes!" when she was reliving killing him? Orestes was the name of the Furies' victim that Gabrielle met in "The Furies". Disclaimer